When I first envisioned this project, I saw it as a social project much in the style of The Internet Movie Database. There’s just too much information out there to be entered and collated for one person. Right now, there are three ways that you can help:

1: Become a researcher!

We’re always looking for people who are either knowledgeable about animation or have access to studio records to help us find information. This can be as simple as having video copies where credits can be found. We’re trying to make our entries as complete as possible, so there’s a lot of work to be done. Right now, I’m also interested in fans who can submit synopsis for individual works. If you’re interested, please drop me a line and let’s talk.

2: Submit screenshots!

One of my major goals is to have screenshots for as many works as possible. You don’t have to edit the pics, we’ll do that here. But we would like large video captures to work with at at least DVD quality. We know that existing copies of many early works are of differing qualities, so we’re reasonable about letting things like that slide a bit. If this sounds like something you’d like to get involved with, please let me know.

3: Submit comments!

When I first started The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts, Mike Barrier commented that one of the things that set it apart was that it wasn’t just dry data, but included comments from viewers about each short. This is pretty much standard operating procedure for any website nowadays, so let’s continue the trend at the IAD. Let us know what you think about your favorite shorts – what you like, what you don’t like, why it’s important – anything you might bring to the table.

As always, if you have any ideas or questions, please let me know. We want to turn this into the premiere source for animation on the web!